Many individuals will work in the food service industry at some point in their lives. Most young adults decide to waitress or bartend while they are in school or studying because it pays well and it’s a great way to save money. Others decide to work in the service industry as a “side hustle” on the weekends to earn some extra income.
Many women who work in the service industry, however, say that it’s not always the greatest.
In fact, many women say that sexual harassment is a regularly occurring thing in the restaurant industry. From customers to coworkers to even management, many women have reported that it’s an ongoing issue.
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Sometimes, women are set up for this kind of harassment by their bosses and managers.
One woman shared her own story on Reddit about a uniform change that her bosses had requested for all the women in the establishment. Keep in mind, at the time of this story, this Reddit user was only 19-years-old.
She worked for a popular chain of casinos over in the United Kingdom. She said the money was really great at the time. But, there were some weird rules for women.
“At 19, I was a bartender and shifts would usually be 12 hours at a time. While I worked there the dress code was smart black (so smart trousers and black shirts) which men and woman had to wear because it was comfortable.
To get more tips, even though I was classified at a bartender, the company forced the women to work on the casino floor making us walk in circles around the gambling tables and made the men stay behind the bar.
The woman were not allowed to stand still so even on a quiet day we still had to walk in circles, this was made easier with our uniforms being comfortable. Although it was frustrating to walk around for hours on end the pay was good so we complied,” the Reddit user explained.
Then, the company decided to change the uniforms of the staff. But, only for the women, of course.
“Then the company held a meeting and told us how they decided to change the uniforms. Unsurprisingly the guys uniforms didn’t change at all but the women were told to wear tight grey dresses you could barely move in and high heels by the next shift, it was clearly to look more appealing and get more tips,” she wrote.
If you’ve ever worked a food service shift, wearing sneakers is painful enough. But, wearing heels? No, thank you.
“Of course my female coworkers and I were pissed off about this and told the managers that we will not only have restricted movement but will also be in pain by the end of the night if we have to walk around for hours in high heels on the hard floor,” she said.
Management didn’t care about what the women had to say. So, instead, they came up with a plan.
“Management did not care and told us to suck it up. After this we all gathered in the changing rooms and talked about how there is no way we are wearing this new uniform and shouldn’t wear it in protest.
That’s when I had an idea. I suggested that my coworkers do what they have planned and I will wear the new uniform because we needed to prove our point. After a long discussion and hesitation they agreed and let me do it,” she added.
She walked into work in the new uniform and was struggling quite a bit.
“The next shift I walked in the building in the new uniform, my god it was uncomfortable, the dress made it difficult to turn my body round and bending over was near impossible, it was so tight that when i did kneel down I was scared it would rip.
Management were really happy to see that I complied even saying to my coworkers how they should learn from me. I had to keep it cool while they said that as I was already started to get sore from the heels. It was a busy night and I was running around like a headless chicken, the dress made it difficult to keep up the pace as I struggled to breathe properly (I think the dress was not designed for this kind of movement) and the pain from my shoes increased to the point that at times I had to attempt to crouch for a second in the back to give my feet a rest.
My coworkers started begging me to stop and just get flat shoes on for my own sake but I declined, stating how I needed to prove our point so I pushed on through the pain till the end of the shift,” she wrote.
But, at the end of the shift, she realized the “beauty” had led to some serious pain.
“Management came in when we all finished to see how everyone was and asking me how I found the shift. I smiled and said it was great with one small problem. I removed my shoes for the first time in 12 hours and stood in front of my managers mildly shaking.
Their faces went from all smiles to shock when they looked at my feet to see my blood running on the floor from the open wounds on my heels, the injuries covered the entirety of my heels with dried blood on the back of my shoes.
They started telling me I should not have done that and should of worn flat shoes but I reminded them saying “but it’s part of the new dress code, I had to wear high heels like you told me”.
As the injuries were exposed I started to feel the pain intensify and had to hold back tears but my shaking got worse. They made me sit down and got the first aid kit for my feet as I started to unzip the back of my dress saying how hard it is to breathe,” she said.
After the incident, the management luckily changed their tone with the uniforms.
Fortunately, after seeing a bartender bleed from their new uniform policy, they decided to do away with the heels altogether.
“The dresses were still compulsory but the dresses were made looser and we never had to wear high heels on shift again,” she said.
Thank goodness they learned their lesson! Have you ever had to deal with anything like this at your job?
